Bad Blood
by uoduck
Summary: "Go check on the American Ministry," they said. "It'll be fun," they said. Well, it would be more fun if Harry wasn't traveling during the zombie apocalypse. This will be Harry/Daryl/Rick.
1. Chapter 1

AN: I don't own either Harry Potter or the Walking Dead.

* * *

><p>"Come on, Sophia," Carl whispered as they got out of the showers. The CDC was a big, big place and Carl kinda wanted to explore it. While the adults were busy drinking and finishing eating.<p>

Sophia nodded, a little reluctant, but still mostly excited.

Aside from the entrance to the building, this was the safest they had been since the attack on the hill. Carl had had to pinch his nose closed as they had walked through the bodies before the gate and he had seen Sophia do the same.

The two of them slunk past the adults and ran into the hallway, laughter and cheers echoing through the room.

"Carl, are you sure this is a good idea?" Sophia asked as they ran through the halls.

"Yeah, it is! There's no walkers in here! It's underground."

"There could still be..." Sophia trailed off. "You're probably right."

They walked down a set of stairs then set off for the lone door that they hadn't seen before. In fact, Carl hadn't seen this hallway before. A great loud thunk sounded through the hallway causing Carl and Sophia to both jump.

"Sophia, did you hear that?"

Sophia glanced at him, nodded hesitantly. "Yeah."

"That couldn't have been a walker. The scientist hadn't turned," Carl said, walking over to the door and standing up on his tiptoes to see through the window in the door.

"Carl, what if it is a walker?" Sophia whispered urgently. "We're going to get in so much trouble."

"Is the door unlocked?" Carl asked, staring transfixed at whatever was beyond the door.

Sophia padded over to the handle, tried it once. It didn't move an inch.

Groaning was heard, coming through the door. Followed by a loud hiss.

Sophia stilled and backed up. "Carl... We should go back to our parents."

"Sophia, don't you want to see what it is?" Carl whispered back, trying the door more.

Another moan sounded through the door. And this time it sounded... closer?

The minute that Carl and Sophia heard a loud thud against the door, they both spooked and ran. It sounded like whatever was beyond the door was trying to get out.

"Mom! Dad!"

"Mom!"

"Shane!"

Carl and Sophia ran back through the hallway and back up the stairs, hearing clattering and running steps from the kitchen. As soon as Carl and Sophia turned a corner, Carl ran right into his dad. His dad already had his gun out and was searching the hallway behind them, quickly steering Carl behind him.

"Carl, what is it? Is it a walker?"

"Carl?!"

"Sophia? What were you two doing down here?"

Carl turned to see Shane, Carol, T-Dog, and Daryl coming toward them. The scientist was no where to be seen. Shane had his rifle out, pointed at the hallway behind them. Daryl had his crossbow out and nocked.

"We were exploring," Carl said.

"We shouldn't have but," Sophia said as her mom pulled her into a hug.

Carl pointed behind him. "There's something there..."

Rick narrowed his eyes.

"It sounded like a walker," Sophia whispered.

"Carl..." Lori started, sighing. "You shouldn't have gone off on your own."

"Shane? Daryl?" Rick asked, gesturing to the hallway. Carl watched as his dad strode off the way he and Sophia had gone down and started to follow.

"Carl, what are you doing? Come back here," Lori ordered, raising an eyebrow.

"But I wanna see," Carl retorted. "It looked like it was only one."

Rick, Daryl and Shane stopped and turned to look at him.

"Only one?" Shane asked, exchanging a look with Rick.

Carl nodded, watching his dad look back to the hallway that led to the kitchen. "Dr. Jenner isn't here... He might have an explanation."

"Explanation? If it's a walker, we need to go kill it," Daryl remarked, staring at the two of them.

"It didn't look like a walker," Carl murmured, glancing at Daryl then at his dad.

"You saw it?" Lori asked, peering down at him with a pinched expression. "Shouldn't we hear the door breaking down then?"

"The doc said there ain't no walkers down here," Daryl said, quickly looking back to where the set of stairs was and starting back that way again.

Lori pulled Carl back. "Let's get back to the kitchen."

Carl turned to watch as his dad, Shane and Daryl all strode down the stairs.

* * *

><p>"Why the fuck did the doc not say anything?" Shane whispered as they made their way toward the door that Carl had described. "This was suppose to be the CDC, safe."<p>

"We got to go kill it," Daryl said, crossbow still out and walking behind Rick and Shane. "Answers after."

"Agreed. Hopefully, there's only one like Carl said," Rick commented, gun still out.

A loud moan was heard throughout the hallway as they walked on, turning a corner. The three of them stopped right before the door and listened for a minute. Shane went to go look through the window.

"Shane?" Rick questioned, making sure the safety was off on his gun.

"There's only one," Shane answered. "It's lying on the ground right before the door though."

Daryl glanced at Rick then at Shane, shaking his head. "Should save bullets. I'll do it."

"Be my guest," Shane commented, stepping back far enough for Rick to step up to the door and ready his gun to shoot the door open. There hadn't been any noise since the moan a minute or two ago.

Daryl readied his bow and gestured for Rick to open fire.

The minute the door opened, the walker fell out, as if it had fallen against it. There was a bloody gash on its' left knee but nothing else, Daryl noted idly. It used to be a man, looked to be in his early to mid 30's when it turned. Long black hair that had bits of blood in it reached down to the guy's upper back.

Daryl was just a minute away from firing his arrow when the walker spoke...

"Bloody hell! Don't shoot! I'm not a zombie!"

* * *

><p>Daryl, Shane and Rick all stepped back, jaws dropped.<p>

Daryl was the first one to recover. "Since when do walkers got a British accent?"

The walker... the man started to laugh, voice more hoarse than expected. "Hahaha. OW..."

"You're not a walker then?" Shane asked quietly.

The man flipped himself over, gingerly almost and sat up and moved over to sit against the wall. They could all hear him hiss under his breath. Likely he was injured then. "'Walker'?"

"Where in the hell did you come from then?" Rick asked, putting his gun into his holster.

"That's what we call them," Shane answered. "Walkers."

The man looked at Shane then at Rick and turned to look up at Daryl. "Oh."

Daryl stared into the guy's green eyes and tilted his head. The guy looked like he had been through hell, probably a hell similar to their own but Daryl could see something that was...

"No, I'm not a 'walker', as you say. I was..." The guy trailed off, turning to stare at something behind them. "Dr. Jenner..."

Daryl turned to see that the scientist had come up behind them while they were occupied. He hadn't even heard him coming.

Dr. Jenner stared at the guy on the floor then at Daryl, Shane and Rick. "I should have known you guys would find him."

The guy on the floor groaned and started to get up, only to fall onto the floor. "Alright. That hurt. I'm just gonna stay here for a while, if that's okay with you gentlemen."

"You injured elsewhere?" Rick asked, taking a step closer to the guy.

"Rick!"

"What? He's not a walker."

"He could be dangerous!" Shane exclaimed.

"Dangerous?" Rick repeated, gesturing at the man on the floor. "Look at him."

"Yeah, yeah, I probably look half-dead. I feel half dead," the guy remarked dryly and a little bitterly. He was glaring up at the scientist and Daryl could swear his green eyes were glowing a little.

"We should have let him out a long time ago," Dr. Jenner remarked, glancing at the three of them.

"What's that suppose'ta mean, doc?" Daryl asked, also taking a step closer to the guy on the floor.

"It's complicated," the guy on the floor remarked, closing his eyes briefly and whimpering a little. "I'm gonna pass out now. Fuck..."


	2. Chapter 2

Harry groaned, stretched his legs and curled his toes. He wasn't on the floor of the CDC anymore, if what he felt when he curled his fingers was any indication. There were a few towels underneath him and a light blanket on top of him, plus his head was on a pillow. He sighed in contentment at the feeling of being on a soft surface; he had just the hard, white floor under him for the past two months.

And he could see a bandage on his left knee and when he moved around a little more, he could feel bandages on his back. Harry winced at the thought of people seeing his back. His past had not been pleasant by any definition of the word. But then again, the dead were coming back to life and eating people. Priority was, he supposed, to survive.

He tried to sit up only to realize he was restrained. Handcuffs by the feel of them. But he could feel... He turned to look at them and saw that the handcuffs had some fabric underneath them, like someone had thought that Harry might have panicked at being restrained. Possibly someone who had seen his back and connected the dots.

"Here."

Harry turned to see a woman sitting on a chair on one side of the cot that he was lying on. She was middle aged, maybe late 30's and had light green eyes. She was looking down at him with kind eyes, maybe a little sorrowful. She held out a cup with a straw toward him, offering.

"Thanks."

The woman nodded while Harry took a few sips of wonderfully cold water. The scientists and the military personnel that had taken him captive had not particularly cared whether or not he had received food or water. Or even medical attention after they performed their experiments.

The British Ministry of Magic had ordered him to go investigate the States, see if they were as affected as other parts of the world were. Long story short, they were. He had stopped in front of the building that the American magical government was housed and could feel the zombies walking around. The American muggle government was the same, maybe a little worse off.

Only, he supposed that someone had noticed Harry walking around without getting attacked. He only remembered being shot, being surrounded by people in military uniforms the nothing. It was all blurry. Needles being stuck into him, desperate voices yelling above him about zombies or whatever the scientific term for the walking dead was... As time went on, they had gotten more and more desperate to find a cure. Anything that would stop whatever it was that was causing this.

"You going to be okay?"

The woman had long since withdrawn the cup of water and had backed up a little.

Harry turned to look at whoever had spoken and raised an eyebrow. There was a young boy standing at the foot of his cot, alongside a young girl. Three other women were standing with them. One had straight brown hair and the other young woman had blond hair that was pulled back into a ponytail and the third was a black woman. They were all staring at him with concern and perhaps a little wary. There was a young man who looked like he was Chinese or Korean, perhaps, standing next to a man who held a big rifle. Finally, there was one other man standing around his cot.

The guy was of medium height, maybe the same height as Harry, and had a crossbow slung across his shoulder. He had short black hair and he was looking at Harry with a peculiar look. Harry didn't know what that look meant, as these people were still strangers to him. Even though they had opened the door to his 'cell', Harry wasn't particularly sure whether he could trust them or not.

Dr. Jenner was nowhere in sight again. Harry wasn't particularly surprised at that. Jenner had been one of the ones that had stood back when the more aggressive and desperate scientists had experimented on him. But he had not let him out of his 'cell', even when Harry had started to hear gunshots and started to feel people dying.

It was the boy who had spoken and who had continued to stare at Harry. The girl too was staring at Harry for some weird reason. It was then when he realized that they were staring at his forehead and he shuddered a little. The glamour that he had put on his scar had probably... There was no way it wasn't visible now.

Harry started to speak only to cough a little. "'M okay. Thanks for finding me."

"How did you know it was the kids that found you?" The woman with the blond hair asked, glancing between him and the other adults.

"Uh... I could hear their voices?" Harry quietly replied, hoping they would buy that reason. The door that had kept him from getting out of the CDC had been soundproofed on his side so he couldn't hear any 'classified' information that anyone had spoken. "Why am I being restrained? I'm not a zombie or a walker or whatever..."

"You could still be dangerous," the guy with the big rifle spoke. "Rick doesn't think you are though."

"Shane! You saw him! You still think he's dangerous?" the woman who was standing behind the young boy said.

"Yeah."

"He doesn't have a fever," the woman exclaimed, gesturing to Harry. "You know people who get bitten have a fever. He does not."

"Then why the hell was he in there in the first place?" the guy retorted, raising his voice a little.

Harry sighed. "This is just great. From one state of captivity to another one."

The women in the room all widened their eyes.

Harry glanced down at the kids and reconsidered what he was about to say. "At least you guys cleaned my wounds. I appreciate it."

Most of the adults in the room blanched. The guy that was apparently named Shane did not, just kept staring at him wearily. Though it wasn't like the rest of the group didn't look exhausted and tired. Harry just... If he ended up... Well, whatever he would do after this, he was going to be cautious around the guy.

"What's your name?" the young boy asked, glancing up at the adults. "No one's asked."

"Harry Potter. That's me," he answered.

"What are your names?" Harry returned, a little curious.

"I'm Carol," the woman who had given him some water said. "My daughter, Sophia, is one of the kids who found you."

Harry nodded at them, smiling at Sophia a little. She was holding onto a doll tightly, like she was a little afraid. If he wasn't sure that everyone would freak out and if he had his wand with him, he would produce a patronus. Most wizarding children loved seeing his patronus, probably non-magical children would too. "Hi."

"I'm Carl." The boy that had first spoken said then pointed at Harry's forehead. "What's that from?"

"Carl!" the woman standing behind him scolded. "That's not polite."

"I'm not going to take offense," Harry tentatively replied. "I've heard worse."

Someone snorted and Harry glanced to where the guy with the crossbow was then glanced back at the woman.

"Still, that's not okay. I'm Lori Grimes."

Harry nodded at her. "I assume he's your son?"

"Yes."

"Shane, he awake?"

Everyone in the group turned to look at the doorway where two men were heading their way. Harry turned his head to assess the newcomers. One seemed to be the leader of the group since everyone was now looking to him for answers. He was wearing a police officer uniform, with a gun holster at his side. The other man was carrying a rifle that wasn't as big as the one Shane was carrying.

"Yeah. He's awake. And talking."

"Did the doc have something'ta say about him?" Crossbow guy asked, turning to focus on one of the men.

"He said something about hot showers," the guy carrying the rifle said with a wide smile.

"Showers?" The guy that looked Chinese asked, eyes brighting up. "Hot showers?"

"Yeah."

"That is awesome!"

"I would love a shower right about now," Harry remarked, glancing up at the police officer.

"Shane, you kept him handcuffed? I told you that we probably could remove them."

"That's my dad," Carl whispered. "He's the leader."

"Oh," Harry whispered back. "What's his name?"

"Rick," Carl replied. "He used to be a police officer."

"Dr. Jenner wouldn't say anything," Rick spoke, looking first at crossbow guy then at Shane.

"He's not going to say anything," Harry commented, stretching his foot out a little. "The man's a coward."

"Did they do that to your back?" Rick asked, going over to stand next to Lori.

"Rick..." Crossbow guy trailed off with a meaningful glance at Harry, who had paled and shuddered a little.

"I'd rather not talk about that," Harry replied. "But-"

"Why the fuck were you in there?" Shane asked, taking a step toward him.

Harry narrowed his eyes, took a deep breath. The guy was already getting on his nerves but he could understand the need to know. Harry was a little annoyed but he had put up with Draco back in school so he was not that affected.

"Shane, stop it. You're not helping," Rick said, holding out an arm to stop Shane from moving any closer.

"People can be so... cruel sometimes," Harry finally replied, eyes going to the ceiling for a minute. "That's all I'm saying about the matter. Now, can someone finally get me out of these handcuffs? I promise I won't hurt any of you or create trouble."

He stared at Shane then at Rick.

Crossbow guy huffed, strode over to Rick and held out his hand. Rick dropped two sets of keys into crossbow guy's hand. Shane sighed and strode off, muttering about dangerous people and needing to get another drink.

Harry watched as crossbow guy came closer. Carl and Sophia shuffled out of his way, moving toward their parents.

"So... I've been calling you crossbow guy in my mind. What's your name?" Harry asked idly.

There were a few quiet chuckles in the room.

Crossbow guy stared down at him, raised an eyebrow.

"What? I'm not telepathic here," Harry retorted, returning the look.

"Daryl Dixon."

"Ah. Much better. Calling you crossbow guy would have been a mouthful."


	3. Chapter 3

Harry sighed happily as Daryl unlocked the handcuffs around his wrists. He brought his wrists up and rubbed some feeling in them, minding the other 'wounds' on his wrists from the other scientists.

"Mind if I go use the showers?" Harry asked, glancing up at everyone then at Rick. He blatantly ignored Shane who was still glaring at the leader of the group and at Harry. "I won't be a bother to anyone."

"You sure you can walk?" Rick asked, glancing at him.

"How long as it been since you guys found me?" Harry asked, looking at Carol then at Sophia and Carl.

"Two hours," Sophia said.

Harry glanced down at his body. Luckily, he still had on the same scrubs that the scientists had put on him somewhere after he had been captured. He could practically feel the call of his wand somewhere in this building and perhaps his bag and trunk were in the building too? But first things first, shower...

"Like I said earlier, I've had worse," Harry replied, moving to sit up and swinging his legs over the cot. He glanced up at the only people who were still in the room. Most of them had left, presumably to go shower too or drink or to go to sleep. When he had first opened his eyes, everyone had looked like they were one step away from keeling over on the spot. Shane, Rick, Carol, Lori, Sophia and Carl were the only people still in the room.

The conditions outside had probably gotten worse since he had been captured and he wasn't exactly sure how many days or weeks he had stayed here unwillingly. If he really wanted to know how long he had spent in the CDC, he would have to go talk to Dr. Jenner. And he really didn't want to go talk to the scientist right now. Definitely later though.

"Did you have a group with you?" Shane asked, fingers still on his rifle even when Harry was moving really slowly.

"Uh, no? And on that topic, I'm going," Harry remarked, slowly standing up. His legs were shaky for a minute then steadied and he strode out of the room. He was walking down the unfamiliar hallway when he distinctly heard Shane and Rick talking. He stopped briefly then shook his head, moving on.

* * *

><p>"Rick, the guy's dangerous. I know it. You really want to invite him to stay with us?" Shane exclaimed as they walked out of the room. Lori, Carol, Sophia and Carl had already left to go get their beds ready.<p>

"How do you know he's dangerous, Shane? He hasn't done nothing to hurt us," Rick replied, a little exasperated at how Shane was pursuing this line of thought.

"Well, don't come crying to me when this doesn't end well," Shane retorted, turning down the hallway for the cafeteria. "That scientist didn't say anything about him! He could be a killer or..."

"Or what?" Rick replied. "We don't know anything about him other than he was held here against his will for a few weeks."

"And experimented on," Shane added idly. "I want to know why."

Rick sighed and followed his friend to grab another bottle of liquor.

* * *

><p>Harry turned another corner and padded deeper into the CDC, following the magic of his wand and his trunk. The last thing he remembered before he had gotten hit with the butt of a rifle was soldiers going through his stuff in his motel room. Or at least they had tried to, he thought idly, grinning to himself. His trunk had refused to open for any of them and his last prank item from George's shop had deterred them.<p>

"When I have time, I'm practicing my wandless magic," he muttered. If he had been proficient with wandless magic before this, he would have gotten out of his predicament a while ago. He wouldn't have gotten 'experimented' on by desperate non-magical people who had nothing left to loose.

Hell, he wasn't even certain that Britain was still in one piece. Right before he had left England, there had been reports of people coming back from the dead in Spain then Germany. Harry stopped right before a big door that had a key pad and a palm reader right next to it. He could feel his holly wand and the three hallows calling out to him.

"Hmm..."

Harry stared at the door then back up where the group was then concentrated on the door's locking mechanism. He pulled a little magic and willed it to unlock the door, hoping to not cause an explosion that would bring people running. It took a few minutes and the muttering of 'alohomora' to direct his magic but it did work. The door opened and the key pad and the other bits of technology that were keeping the door locked fizzled out.

He walked through the door, humming excitedly, and strode to the evidence locker where his stuff was stored and opened that one too. His holly wand flew right to him and it kinda felt like coming home, his magic soaring around him. Harry's trunk opened at his touch and he snorted quietly at the sight of scarring from explosives.

However, as he was rifling through his trunk and seeing that everything was indeed still there, he saw something shiny.

"Oooh," Harry quietly murmured, drawing out the clothed piece of weaponry. "So the goblins came through. In fact..."

He pulled the piece of cloth away and saw a nice, sturdy black longsword with runes on the handle and on the blade. He had commissioned it when everything had started to happen and when other wizards had discovered that magic did not work against the dead. Sure, he could use blasting spells or stun them but when he had tried to kill one using Avada Kedavra, the spell had hit the dead person and hadn't affected it. When he had tried to cast a spell that would affect their minds, it didn't work either. That had made him realize that the dead people's minds were dead too. Though there was still something that was keeping them going, keeping them hunting for food. He just didn't know what had caused this whole disaster. The magic that he had received from the hallows did work and he had a slight suspicion that it was death magic, maybe even a kind of necromancy.

When he had first cast something using that magic, it wore him out much more quickly than regular magic did. So he had stuck to either ignoring the walkers and letting them ignore him or using the sword of griffindor at first. Before he had left England, he had given Griffindor's sword to Neville just so he could protect himself.

There was a sheath in the package as well and... A gun?

Harry raised an eyebrow. He knew how to wield a sword but he didn't know how to use a gun. And at this point, he figured he should probably learn somehow. He didn't want to accidentally shoot himself when he was trying to shoot the dead. He would most likely only use either magic or the sword when he had to but these days, it would probably be good to know how to use a gun.

He put away the sword, sheath and gun and opened the second compartment of his trunk. All of his clothes and toiletries were still here and not bothered. He opened up the other compartments and breathed a sigh of relief to see that he still had the contents of Snape's potion's cabinets. There were even potions from the Hogwart's infirmary and since he hadn't had any occasion to use them, it was still stocked.

Harry pulled out a Pepper Up potion, opened it and downed it in one go, feeling energy race into his body.

He closed that portion of the trunk and opened the one that was specially charmed to be like a mailbox. His friends could place letters in their own trunks and they would be sent to his trunk instantly. The owls had been rather scared about delivering mail when dead people were rising from the dead so that had been a nice alternative.

There was a letter that he hadn't seen before sitting on top of the others that had his name written on it. Along with a few tear drops. Harry shuddered, closed his eyes briefly then reached out grab it, unfolding it.

_Harry,_

_ I don't even know if you're still alive. I don't... You've been gone for three months and we haven't heard anything from you and everyone says that you're dead. I just... Harry, Hogwart's fell two weeks ago. _

Harry stiffened, fell against the wall that was behind his back and slid down it, landing on his butt on the cold floor. He could feel the blood draining from his face. He remembered when Hogwarts had become a refugee camp in the first few weeks and everyone's parents and their kids had come to the castle, panicked and desperate. Hell, he had sent Teddy and his kids there to keep them safe. He wiped away the tears that were threatening to fall and continued reading.

_I didn't see your kids escape. I'm sorry. I just don't... I can't go find them; the goblins that we're staying with won't allow it. England fell a few days earlier and now it's just... Ron and I might go to Australia and see if it's as affected as Britain is. Harry, I'm so sorry. We've heard that the States are so much more affected than Europe and you're probably... dead or worse. __I hope you... if you're not dead, I hope you'll be able to find a cure or a spell to fix this. It's absolutely dreadful seeing our friends get up after they get attacked._

There were more tear drops around the last sentence and the ink wasn't as thick as the other sentences were. As if Hermione was trying to deny that anything bad had happened to him.

_Anyway, that's where we'll be if you aren't dead. I... miss you._

Harry sighed, sniffled a little and heard a thunk like something had fallen over. He stilled and glanced up from the letter only to see the Asian guy standing sheepishly in the doorway. He looked a little drunk, fidgeting and having trouble staying upright. But he didn't seem to be more than a little drunk.

"Uh, hi?"

Harry chuckled quietly, knowing the laughter had a distinct waterly sound to it. "Hi."

The guy shuffled his way slowly, clearly not wanting to startle him. "So..."

"I didn't catch your name," Harry remarked, yawning a little even though he wasn't tired at all. Mostly, he still wanted to go shower and get two months worth of sweat and dirt off of himself.

"I'm Glenn. And your name was Harry?"

"Yeah, it is," Harry murmured, reaching a hand back into his trunk and conjured a tissue, pulling it out and wiping his nose.

"British, huh? Did England-"

"England fell," Harry answered, shakily standing up. He glanced at Glenn's wet hair then to his eyes. "Would you mind showing me where the showers and bathrooms are?"

"You sure look like you need one. Come on," Glenn gestured back out to the hallway.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "What's that suppose to mean?"

"You look like shit."

"Well," Harry started and as soon as Glenn's back was turned, he swiftly closed his trunk and shrunk it down to the size of a briefcase. "You guys didn't look good when I saw you. Most, if not all of you looked like you were about to keel over."

Glenn huffed out a laugh that sounded just barely keeping it together. "We found this place just in the nick of time."

Harry strode over to walk alongside Glenn. "I take it, shit happened on the way here?"

"When does shit not happen these days?" Glenn commented, sighing.

"I suppose Hell hath officially frozen over then," Harry remarked as they passed Carol and Sophia bedding down. Harry waved to Sophia, who hesitantly waved back.

Glenn snorted. "Showers are just down the hall and to the right. Your room with a cot is the third room from the door to the big room filled with computers."

"Thanks."

"And your bandages should stay on. That's what Rick and Carol said," Glenn reported, swaying a little.

Harry could still hear a little chatter coming from what could be the kitchens or dining room. It seemed that a few people were still up and enjoying the relative peace.

"Go on. You're tired. Go to sleep," Harry remarked. "I can find my own way."

"You sure?" Glenn asked, a slur coming out in his voice.

"You're all exhausted," Harry retorted. "And a little drunk. Go on."

* * *

><p>"Oooh, that's the stuff," Harry groaned happily as the warm water came on. He had shed the old scrubs and put waterproof charms on his bandages, along with one or two healing spells to increase the speed to heal. So, he could relax and wash his body without bothering about the wounds and the open needle marks.<p>

There had been no one in the showers when he had got there so he was alone for the first time in a few months, it seemed. Hermione's letter had been dated recently and she had said that he had been gone for three months.

Harry leaned against the shower wall and let the water flow over his body, feeling tears start to fall. He was tired too even though he remembered being drugged into a coma at some point in the past few weeks.

He stood there, quietly crying his eyes out, for a few minutes or hours, he didn't really know until he heard a quiet yelp. Or... it was more like a muffled scream?

Harry quickly finished up, using some magic to aid in cleaning, shut off the shower and dressed in nice, clean clothes. He scooped up his trunk turned briefcase and strode to where he had first heard the cry, stopping dead in the doorway.

* * *

><p>"What the actual fuck is going on here?"<p>

Lori stiffened and felt Shane stop trying to push himself on her. He even stumbled back a few steps and it almost looked like he hadn't had any control over stepping back. Shane had an almost comically bewildered look on his face, like whatever had happened had caused him to come up for air in between being drunk. She looked past Shane only to see the guy that Carl had found earlier this evening.

"Get the fuck out of here," Shane growled out, turning to look at him.

"I don't know. I thought I heard something," Harry commented, fiddling with a stick in his hands. "Something like a muffled cry and then I saw you two. How about you get out of here and leave the lady alone? Does that sound like a good plan to you? It sounds like a good plan to me..."

"Harry," Lori started, distantly aware that the British man had put on some clothes and had showered.

She watched as Shane grumbled but did as Harry suggested and strode out, still carrying a beer bottle in his hands.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked, walking over to stop a few feet from her.

"Could you not tell anyone about that?" Lori questioned. "I know you barely know us but..."

"He tried to rape you," Harry replied, running a hand through his wet black hair. "And he looked a little too familiar to you as well. Aren't you married to Rick?"

"Yes. It's complicated."

Harry raised an eyebrow, studying her. "Alright. I don't like this but I won't tell anyone. But if he hurts you again or tries to, I'm telling. Well, stopping him then telling someone. Or..."

Lori watched as Harry trailed off. "Thanks."

"I still think you're crazy not to tell anyone," Harry remarked, walking out.

* * *

><p>Harry sighed. He supposed he would have that talk with Dr. Jenner now, one bad situation to another though he had enjoyed Shane's look of confusion when Harry had used a spell to pull him away from Lori. He figured he could always hex the man in the morning, if Lori didn't want him telling anyone.<p>

Harry went to drop off his trunk at the room that he had woken up in and left it by his cot.

He strode through the hallways until he came to the big room with all of the computers in it. Harry stopped when he heard people talking quietly and waited until he couldn't hear anymore. He padded through the door and walked through the aisles, stopping to stare at Rick who was sitting down against one of the computer desks.

Rick looked more than a little drunk and a lot exhausted, legs drawn up to his chest and head down. And perhaps he looked a little lost as well.

Dr. Jenner was typing something into one of the computers until he heard Harry's deliberately loud, smooth footsteps. The scientist turned to look at Harry with a frown then Jenner sighed.

"I suppose you want answers?" Jenner inquired, glancing at Rick for a moment then stared at Harry.

Harry nodded, narrowed his eyes. "Just a minute though."

He saw Jenner nod his assent then Harry went to sit a few feet from Rick.

"Hey."

The other man started a little, like he was lost in memories or his own thoughts. "Anything wrong?"

Harry shook his head, hearing the slur in Rick's voice. "There's nothing wrong. Only, do you want to go get some sleep? You look exhausted. You don't have to be on watch tonight. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, sleep sounds good."

Harry grinned a little, watched as Rick started to stand up. The former police officer was a little shaky but Rick was more or less steady on his feet after a minute or two. He lumbered out of the big room and took a left, heading to where Lori and Carl were presumably already in bed.

"We were desperate," Jenner started, not even looking at Harry.

Harry sighed, went to sit at a chair to prop his feet up. "That doesn't excuse what you and the others did."

"I know. We just... You got bit and you didn't turn. Everyone that gets bitten, turns eventually."

"Did your parents and the parents of everyone else ever teach you about common decency?" Harry questioned. "Because kidnapping someone and experimenting on them is not it."

"We wanted a cure!" Jenner still wasn't looking at him, was looking at another computer.

Harry glanced up to where the big timer was still ticking down. When he had entered this room a few minutes ago and saw it, something had tickled his brain, like he was forgetting a big something. Something to do with the timer. Everything had been blurry ever since he had been captured but he did remember seeing it. Just didn't remember what it meant.

"That still does not excuse your actions. Just because I didn't turn doesn't... You could have just asked!"

Jenner finally turned to look at him, raised an eyebrow. "You would have told us how or what you are?"

Harry snorted and let out an incredulous laugh. "No. That's private."

"I know you're not going to forgive any of us but I'm still sorry."

"You know, you could have done something if you didn't like what your colleagues were doing. Like saying something," Harry remarked. "Or let me out."

Jenner had nothing to say to that, only stared at him.

"Or do nothing," Harry grumbled, turning to go back to where the group was sleeping. "Fine. Fine!"

"We did notice the scars on your back though," Jenner commented. "What are those from?"

Harry stiffened and turned back to Jenner, glared at him. "Those are private as well."

"They looked like they came from something unnatural."

Harry narrowed his eyes then sighed, anger deflating. "Since it's the apocalypse, I'll give you a pass for asking about my scars. And since I probably won't see you again after I leave... Here. The statute probably doesn't apply for anyone anymore."

* * *

><p>Dr. Edwin Jenner stared, blinked. Pinched himself for good measure. The man that his colleagues had kept prisoner... had just smoothly flowed downward into a black panther. Jenner stared. The panther stared, growled a little then slunk off, tail swishing behind it.<p>

* * *

><p>AN: Update: I'm starting to write two other Walking DeadHP fics, one for each individual pairing of Harry/Rick and Daryl/Harry.


	4. Chapter 4

Harry prowled through the building of the CDC, making sure to avoid anyone. But mostly everyone was already asleep so he was free to walk about as a panther. He had missed being able to do this, change forms and pretend that he wasn't human for a while. Forget that the world had gone to shit and just let the animal part of his form take over for an hour or so.

He ended up lying down in the middle of the hallway where everyone had bunked. He could hear everyone's breathing, deep and even. It didn't take too long until he stood up and moved back to his cot, shifted back, and fell asleep also.

* * *

><p>Harry woke up to his stomach growling like it hadn't had food in a long time and he figured that that was true. He remembered an IV being stuck in his arm but that wasn't very much nutrition or food so he stretched and got up, walking out of the room and to the kitchen. He pulled out a nutrient potion on the way and stopped right before he closed his trunk again, considering for a minute.<p>

He grinned and pulled out a hangover potion and put that in his pocket before making for the kitchen and what passed as the food pantry here. He glanced at the microwave that was on the counter and saw the time. It was early in the morning, around 7:00am. There was no one else around except for Daryl, who was sitting in a chair fiddling with his crossbow.

They glanced at each other briefly before turning back to their respective activities. Harry searched through the pantry and looked at the stove then back at all the food before pulling out ingredients to make waffles. There was surprisingly enough, a waffle iron sitting on the kitchen counter. He sighed at the thought of the scientists and doctors having good food while they were doing experiments on him.

"You hungry?" Harry asked while he started to mix the ingredients together. He turned to also grab eggs out of the small refrigerator, figuring that it was better to use them now before they went bad. He didn't know how long the power would last until it went out.

"You know how'ta cook?" Daryl asked, watching Harry while he cooked.

"Yeah. I had... kids and a godson before the world ended," Harry commented, closing his eyes briefly. "They... used to loved waffles."

"Never had waffles before," Daryl remarked, putting his crossbow down.

Harry stopped pouring orange juice and water into two pitchers and turned to stare at Daryl, raising an eyebrow. "You've never had waffles before?"

"Nope."

"Well, you're in for a treat then. My kids said I made wonderful waffles," Harry explained, smiling a little. "Though I was never able to tell whether or not they were lying. They never threw any of their food away, regardless."

* * *

><p>Harry worked in silence while Daryl worked on his crossbow. Soon enough, there were steaming piles of scrambled eggs, bacon and a big platter of waffles on the table, ready to be eaten. He had taken a few bites of food as he worked and was working through a plate slowly. Harry had put a heating charm on the food so that it would all be warm until people trickled in. He had also put two pitchers of water and orange juice with a few drops of hangover potion them. Coffee was brewing in two pots near the sink though it wasn't like Harry was much of a fan of the drink.<p>

He was sipping on a cup of tea when people started to wake up thirty minutes later.

"What? Where did all this food come from?"

Harry turned to see the blond woman come in first, followed by Carol and Sophia and Carl. The black woman also came in, with the older white man walking in behind her.

"If you want to be technical," Harry started, smiling. "It was already here."

Daryl snorted and stood up, grabbing a plate.

Carol looked at him and laughed quietly.

Harry drew his wand out and cancelled the heating charm on the food out of people's view.

"Then who made it all?" Carl asked, rubbing his eyes.

"He made it," Daryl answered, pointing at Harry.

Rick, Lori, Glenn and the black man came in and stopped.

"You made all of this?" Lori asked, pulling her hair back.

"Yep. Help yourselves," Harry announced. "Coffee's over there and plates are near the food. And I have something special for the kids, if you two like chocolate chips."

Carl and Sophia's eyes lit up like it was Christmas.

"Thank you," Rick said quietly, going to sit down next to where Lori had gone.

"Your welcome," Harry replied, glancing at everyone and nodding briefly. He went over to the oven where he had placed the last two waffles that he had made. He placed them on two plates and handed them to the waiting kids. "Here. Sophia, Carl, chocolate chip waffles."

"This place had chocolate chips?" The black man asked, taking a few spoonfuls of scrambled eggs.

"Yeah."

"Did anyone find any advil around here?"

Harry turned to see that Shane had walked in. The man actively avoided him, going over to the coffee pots and fixing a cup.

"Feel as bad as I do?" Rick asked, glancing up at Shane.

"Worse."

"The hell happened to your neck?"

Shane stared at Rick then looked at Harry. "Guess I must have done it in my sleep."

Harry snorted.

"Do you like orange juice or water better?" Harry asked while taking a sip of his tea. He had added the nutrition potion to it to cover the taste of the potion and he thought it had worked out. Mostly.

Shane turned to stare at him while rubbing his forehead. "What's that suppose to mean?"

"Orange juice or water?" Harry repeated, gesturing to the two pitchers.

"These are awesome!" Carl exclaimed. "Dad, can he come with us?"

Harry glanced down at Carl then over to Daryl for a second. "I have... had business to attend to. But now, I'm... I don't even know if my friends are alive anymore."

Rick turned away from talking to Lori, tilted his head a little. "I had been meaning to ask you if you wanted to come stay with us. You're welcome to."

"I... you sure?" Harry questioned. "I would just be another mouth to feed."

"Can you fight?" Shane asked, glaring at Rick then looking at Harry.

"Yeah. Just not with a gun," Harry replied. "I actually don't know how to use a gun."

"What weapon do ya fight with?" Daryl asked.

"A sword."

He received dubious looks from around the table then finally turned to Carl again.

"That's good," Harry replied idly. "Otherwise my kids would have just been humoring me."

Harry could feel people's eyes on him and they weren't being too subtle.

"Though maybe Teddy was biased a little," Harry commented. "He always loved waffles."

"Orange juice," Shane finally answered, avoiding Harry's eyes. "If you're actually good with a sword, it would be useful to have you around, I suppose. Quiet like. It's sound that gets the walkers to come out."

Rick exchanged glances with Shane then nodded. "It's settled then. You'll come with us?"

Harry picked up both pitchers and brought them over to Shane while glancing at the black man. "I put something in them to help with hangovers. Nothing poisonous. It won't affect the kids or anyone that doesn't have a hangover. I'll come."

"I didn't get your name last night, did I?" Harry asked.

"People call me T-Dog," the guy answered. "The food's good. Did anyone hear loud purring last night or was it just me?"

Harry stiffened and went to sit down next to Carol, who glanced at him curiously. He must have unconsciously started to purr last night, loudly.

"Ain't just you," Daryl spoke then glanced over at Harry. "Food's good."

Harry nodded in silent reply.

"You heard it too?" the woman on the other side of the table asked and turned to look at Harry when he glanced at her. "I'm Andrea."

"I heard it too," Sophia called out, glancing up at the adults.

"Maybe there's a cat in here?" Carl asked. "A mascot cat for the CDC?"

"A big one," the oldest guy in the group said.

"Dale, what makes you think..." Shane asked, grabbing some bacon.

"My wife and I went around to a zoo the week before the world ended," Dale replied, taking a sip of coffee. "The big cats purr loudly."

Harry heard Shane sigh in relief and glanced his way to see the other adults drinking some water.

"Jacqui, could you pass the bacon?" Andrea asked, holding out her hand for the plate.

"Ah, your name's Jacqui?" Harry asked, turning to look at the black woman.

Jacqui nodded. "Your cooking is delicious."

"Thanks."

"Has anyone seen Dr. Jenner?" Rick asked, glancing around the room.

"I'm here," Jenner replied, walking into the room and searching for something until his eyes landed on Harry. Jenner stared at him, eyes a little wide and apprehensive. "I suppose you guys want answers?"

* * *

><p>Harry stared at the big computer screen as the AI took them through each stage of the infection. He could feel Jenner's eyes on him every so often while the scientist explained each stage. It was interesting enough, he supposed. As the infection took hold of the person's brain, the lights went out in most of the brain then went entirely dark.<p>

When the world had first ended, Harry had been curious enough to go outside and observe the dead. He really wasn't much of a scientist or doctor, even though he did have some medi-wizard training. He had looked at the dead while on the roof of a building through his 'death' magic and they had been greyed out, like they weren't entirely dead but they weren't entirely alive either.

Alive people shined in white through his magical vision and when he had seen a few corpses, they were black. When he glanced at everyone in the group, they were all shining white when he saw through the magic that the hallows had given him. However, Jacqui's was shimmering a little. And so was Jenner's.

Harry blinked, scrubbed his eyes a little. He had never seen that before. Though, on second thought... One of the few times he had woken up during the scientists experiments, he had seen more than a few of their lights flicker like Jacqui's was now.

"This person died? Who?" Andrea asked.

"Test subject 19," Jenner answered. "Agreed to be tested after it reanimated."

"VI, scan forward to second event."

Harry backed up to wait alongside Daryl while everyone asked their questions. He already knew that this wasn't... There wasn't a cure as of now. And he didn't know whether someone would create one in the near future. He didn't know what to do and he was probably one of the experts on this, being the Master of Death.

"So they're alive?" Andrea asked.

"You tell me," Jenner commented.

Harry shook his head, feeling Daryl's eyes on him then everyone else's eyes turned to him too. "No, they're not. When they... turn, for lack of a better word, they're different."

"We know that," Andrea retorted.

"Andrea," Dale said, the slight warning in his tone obvious.

"I just meant..." Harry trailed off, gesturing at the computer screen where it was showing the now dead victim.

Rick gestured for him to continue.

"They're not alive and nor are they dead," Harry explained, running a hand through his hair. "They're in between. This shouldn't... Fuck. It just shouldn't be happening. It's not natural. They feel wrong to me."

"We're aware," Shane grumbled.

"'Feel'?" Dale repeated uncertainly.

"Uh, it's a complicated story," Harry replied. "A very long and complicated story."

* * *

><p>"I hate to ask you another question right now," Dale started. "But doc, what does that clock mean?"<p>

"Yeah, I want to know too. When you guys first brought me in, it said 1460," Harry remarked. "And now it says 1? Does it mean time in hours or something?"

Jenner sighed. "When the clock is out, the power will go out."

"Shane, Glenn, T-Dog, let's go look at the generators," Rick suggested. "See if anything's wrong."

Harry watched them go and the rest of the group followed, splitting off to go back to their rooms. He stayed and stared at Jenner, who had gone back to not saying a thing. They were the only two people in the room so Harry felt justified in saying what he was about to say.

"Jenner, I can do more than just what I did last night," Harry remarked, watching as the scientist went to sit down at a computer desk.

When the man still didn't reply, Harry shrugged. "I've grown kind of fond of these people. Being let out of my cell does that, you know. Back before the world ended, I was known to be rather protective of my friends."

"What else is going to happen when the clock runs out?"

"I loved my wife," Jenner started, standing up and walking over to the door, outright ignoring Harry.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Okay. No offense but that means absolutely nothing to me."

"I loved my job."

Harry groaned, glanced down at his leg when his knee throbbed. He drew his wand and murmured a spell to ease the pain and felt it immediately go to work.

"What was that pair of words you just said?" Jenner asked, back to staring at him.

"These people need somewhere safe to stay," Harry remarked. "We need somewhere safe to stay."

"It's not going to be the CDC then," Jenner replied distractedly.

Harry stiffened and that was when the power went out, right when the clock said 29:59. "What is that suppose to mean?"

"Time. What exactly do you think happened when the French and all the other countries went black?" Jenner asked, walking back to sit at the computer. He turned the machine on, drew the microphone closer. The group ran in, lead by Rick and Shane. Lori was tightly holding onto Carl as they came in and Carol was holding onto Sophia as well.

"What?" Andrea said. "What about the french?"

Harry could hear shouting coming from the hallway. "What the fuck is going to happen in thirty minutes?"

"The French were the last ones to hold out," Jenner explained. "This world ran on fossil fuels. They ran out."

Harry started to pace, done with the scientist's cryptic answers.

"They thought they were close to an answer or cure," Jenner continued.

Harry rolled his eyes. He knew that if there was to be a cure or a solution to whatever this was, it probably wasn't going to come from a few non-magical scientists. The problem was, he didn't know if anyone, Neville, Snape or Draco were still alive. They were the best potion's and plant masters in the world. If anyone could fix this, they could. In theory.

"Doc, what the hell is happening?"

Harry glanced at the clock then back at the doctor, who was starting to record something.

"We don't care. Okay. Everyone go get your bags. We're getting out of here," Rick called out. "Come on."

Harry stared at the scientist before turning and heading to follow everyone else.

"I'm Dr. Edwin Jenner, signing out."

They were just right before the door before it slid shut with a final thud. Sophia screamed, startled and everyone turned to face Jenner.

Harry stopped, stared and turned to face Dr. Jenner. He ignored the fact that if he looked at everyone using his hallows enhanced magical sight, everyone's light was flickering. But that did point him in the right direction to figure out what the clock meant.

"Did he just shut the door on us? Did you guys see that?" Shane exclaimed, pulling his rifle up to point at the scientist. "You son of a bitch. Let us out!"

Daryl started to attempt to open the door by hitting it with his pickaxe. Harry could see that it wouldn't work, the door was too heavily reinforced. Magic wouldn't work either, if he was to guess.

"Wouldn't it be easier this way?" Jenner asked, turning to face them.

"Shane, stop! That's not helping!" Rick called out, going over to pull a now hostile Shane away from the scientist. "He's the only one that can open the doors."

"The CDC," Harry remarked thoughtfully, narrowing his eyes in thought.

"What're you on about?" Shane exclaimed.

"When the power finally goes out here," Harry continued as everyone came back down to the center computer room. Carol and Sophia were staring with wide, frightened eyes at the scientist. Carl was clinging onto Lori. "Doctor, this building isn't going to be here when the clock finishes ticking down, right?"

"This is the center for disease control. We have plenty of diseases that cannot get out," Jenner replied.

"Fuck! Let us the fuck out!" Shane yelled.

The clock ticked down to 07:00.

"There's no point. Topside's closed down," Jenner responded. "Remember what I said when I let you in?"

Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Once this door closes, it stays closed," Jenner said. "This building is going into decontamination."

"In other words," Harry said.

"Easy death," Jenner replied. "No slow, excruiciating death outside."

There was silence for a few seconds.

"Let us the fuck out," Daryl yelled as he continued to try the door.

"We've gotta try," Rick finally said. "Let us out."

Jenner turned to glance at Harry, who narrowed his eyes and projected a thought toward him. _You owe me. Let us out._ The scientist started, eyes widening, and proceeded to do just that.

* * *

><p>The door slid open just as Daryl was about to try again to break it open. "Let's get out of here!"<p>

He watched as everyone frantically raced over and ran into the hallway and gathered their belongings. The new guy was the last one out, after taking one last glance at Andrea, Dale, and Jacqui.

"Get going," Daryl said, raising his voice a little. Harry was going a little too slow for Daryl's tastes but finally made his way out, picking up speed.

* * *

><p>"Well, I guess... no one will be going to the Atlanta CDC for anything anymore," Harry remarked, sitting in the back of Dale's RV as they rode out.<p>

Andrea snorted, still a little shaky, but she looked like she was settled. She kept glancing at Dale but Harry figured she would be okay. When he looked, her light was back to being white.


	5. Chapter 5

Harry stared out the window of the RV, watching the other side of the freeway and all of the dead and empty cars that were lined up. If he was inclined to pull on the magic of the hallows, he would probably see a lot of black and maybe a few grey spots that indicated the walkers. But he was still recovering from being kept in a room and chained to a table for a few months so he didn't. Also, he really didn't want to see that much obvious death. When he looked now, he could just imagine that the cars were empty and not tombs.

"Dale, do you know where we're headed?" Harry asked, turning to look at Dale as the other man drove the RV. It had been early morning when they had left the CDC and now it was closing on 11:00am and they had left Atlanta behind a few hours ago. Before leaving the city, they had found what gas they could and refilled each car that they were taking.

"Fort Benning," Dale replied. "It's where Shane had wanted to go before the CDC."

"That an army base?" Harry questioned, glancing over the table to where Andrea was pulling her gun apart. He could see Dale turning back to look at them occasionally, with a look that could only be called worried. Harry didn't really know these people much but as far as he knew or could see, there was no reason to be worried about Andrea attempting to kill herself again. They had exchanged glances a few minutes after leaving behind the CDC and she had stared at him for a second or two then turned to go lie down in the bed.

Now, Shane was offering to show Andrea how to clean her gun. Or taking the opportunity to stare at Harry every once and a while which Harry was determinedly ignoring. He was very much used to being stared at and it wasn't any different.

"Yep. Best shot for a refugee camp is there," Dale remarked.

"Alright. And you don't think it's been overrun already?" Harry asked, standing up and going to glance out the front window.

Glenn, who was looking over a few maps in the passenger seat, turned to look at him. "We can hope."

"Hope can be powerful in these situations," Dale agreed.

Harry nodded, ran a hand through his hair. He glanced at the driver's window which was open and winced a little. Being raised in the cupboard underneath the stairs for 10 years then held captive in a small room for a month and a half had left a mark on him. "Is it alright if I climb up to the roof? I'm a little..."

"Claustrophobic?" Glenn finished. "How long were you in the CDC anyway?"

"How are you going to do that? There's a small roof window in the bathroom but it's small," Dale mentioned. "You wouldn't be safe up there too."

"Yeah, claustrophobic. The room I was kept for a month and a half in was rather small," Harry explained. "I'll be safe enough. I have my ways. Besides, we aren't going that fast anyways."

Dale stared at him for a minute then sighed. "I suppose you can. Just be careful."

"I said I had my ways," Harry replied, already walking back to where he had placed his resized trunk. He grabbed his holly wand, stared at it for a minute then reconsidered and pulled out the elder wand and strapped it to the wand holster that was underneath his long-sleeved shirt.

"What's that?" Andrea asked, gesturing to his wand.

"Umm, it's a kind of a weapon?" Harry tried, shrugging a little. "It may not look like much but well... I'm quite good with it."

"I thought you said you used a sword?" Glenn questioned.

"I do. I just like to vary my weapons."

He left the three of them to go onto the roof, pretty sure that they all had bewildered looks.

When he managed to jump onto the roof through the window, he sighed in relief when he felt the air ruffle his hair. He could see miles ahead of them and miles behind them up here as they left Atlanta behind. He could see Daryl on his motorcycle up ahead of the group of cars.

Harry slid along the roof until he was comfortable then lay down flat on his stomach, laying his head on his arms.

* * *

><p>Daryl stared up at the man on the roof of the RV, tilted his head a little. Harry had fallen asleep... on the roof of the car. From Daryl's angle of vision, Harry looked... peaceful and content. When he had first seen the man in the CDC, he had looked broken, wary and tired. And of course the guy had been injured, bruised and bloody.<p>

He didn't look like a man who could really wield a sword though.

* * *

><p>"Ugh, what is that smell?!" Harry exclaimed, waking up and glancing down at the RV. They had apparently stopped while he had been asleep. There were parked cars all around them, some destroyed or flipped over. Some had dead bodies in them. Dale was standing before the front of the RV, staring into the car. Smoke was coming from the car and it smelled bad, though not as bad as the walkers did. "What happened?"<p>

"The hose broke again," Dale said. "You wouldn't happen to know how to fix it?"

Harry shook his head and climbed to the side of the RV and hopped down, allowing his inner magic to deliver him safely to the ground. He didn't need his wand for that, as long as the distance wasn't too large. As soon as he landed, he realized that he hadn't really checked the ground for anyone that would see him.

Rick was standing right directly in his line of sight, staring at him with wide eyes.

Harry wasn't entirely opposed to the idea of letting these people in on his secret; they did seem like they could be trusted. Plus, like he had told Jenner, the statute of secrecy probably wasn't in affect anymore.

Harry raised an eyebrow and shuffled around him to go stand next to Dale. He could see Shane looking around a water truck that was part way through the line of cars ahead. Lori, Carol, Sophia and Carl were walking past cars, occasionally glancing into windows. T-Dog was searching through cars, probably looking for a replacement hose.

"I don't know a thing about cars," Harry remarked. "The only thing I know about them is how to drive them and that's it. I didn't even own a car before this."

"Then how'd you get around?" Glenn asked, glancing at him.

"I flew," Harry answered, grinning a little.

"Hey, are we running out of water?" Shane called over, opening up a door of the water truck.

Harry turned to look and heard everyone do the same. There were multiple containers of water in the truck. Shane opened one and stood under it, letting the pouring water act like a shower head.

Glenn whooped and headed over. "Save some for me, man!"

"Is Daryl out hunting or something?" Harry asked. "Was I really asleep that long?"

"No, he's keeping an eye on everything," Rick replied. "We're sitting ducks here as long as the hose isn't working."

Dale turned to look at Harry. "I stopped everyone from waking you up. You looked like you needed it."

"I could have helped," Harry replied.

Dale raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, so probably not. But I can be useful," Harry commented. "I'll go see what I can find out there."

Harry heard Dale climb up onto the roof then strode to the door of the RV and nodded to Andrea before reaching into his trunk. He scooped out the sword that the goblins made him and attached it to his back and slipped on thin gloves that would protect him from the sharp edge.

* * *

><p>"You finding anything?" Harry asked.<p>

"Not yet," T-Dog said. "I'm just looking in every car."

"Sounds good. Slow but good."

T-Dog sighed.

They were just heading back to the RV when Harry stiffened, his magic alerting him to something behind him. There were walkers coming toward them, a lot of walkers. He saw Dale and Rick realize it at the same time before they started to move. Rick ran toward Lori, Carl, Sophia and Carol. Dale lay down flat on the roof. Shane pulled Glenn under the water truck.

Harry crouched down and headed to where T-Dog was but turned to realize that Andrea hadn't noticed yet, too busy cleaning and or putting her gun back together. And the RV door was open. He pulled out the elder wand and whispered a spell and watched blue light race from his wand to the door of the RV, where it coalesced into a fully formed shield that extended the length and width of the door.

Harry nodded to himself, feeling the shield working, then realized the walkers were almost on them and hurried to where T-Dog had crouched down. A choked off cry made him go faster, racing to stop in front of T-Dog who had cut himself on a car door. Blood was flowing down T-Dog's arm at an alarming pace.

T-Dog glanced at him, his eyes wide and skin losing color, then glanced behind him. Harry could hear the moans, hisses and lumbering footsteps that came from the walkers and they weren't... The walkers would be on them in a matter of seconds. They would probably be going faster if they could smell the blood that was coming from T-Dog's arm but the walkers were moving at their normal pace.

Harry narrowed his eyes then pulled on the magic that he rarely used, feeling the responding call of the hallows. The magic surrounded him and he extended it to go around T-Dog at the same time. Harry moved to sit in front of the other man at the same time, feeling the now-familiar draw on his energy from both the hallow's magic and the magic that he was using to shield the RV and Andrea. He moved his sword to rest on his lap so that it wouldn't hinder him.

T-Dog stared at him, eyes widening even more.

"Your eyes..." T-Dog gasped quietly, attention half on him and half on the walkers that were now avoiding them. It was like the walkers had immediately been forced away, pushed away from them. Like there was a huge space bubble around them that was protecting them.

Harry nodded, vision clouded over with bright grey lights and the few white lights that meant that the group was still alive. He could see Daryl pacing toward them, crouched to hide, and Harry extended the hallow's magic over to the archer.

* * *

><p>Daryl stared at Harry then at the walkers that were avoiding T-Dog, Harry and himself. He turned back to stare at Harry only to realize that the man's eyes were glowing. The black sword on his lap was of no big deal in comparison.<p>

"Unnatural," T-Dog muttered, glancing at Daryl over Harry's shoulders.

"Shhh," Daryl hissed, moving to stand in front of Harry and raising his crossbow to drop any walker that got too close. This close to the other man, he could feel him start to tremble a little. Like he was tired.

"Daryl, could you bandage his arm?"

Daryl turned to see that Harry was pointing at T-Dog's right arm. T-Dog was right about Harry though. Harry's eyes were an eerie sight to behold, glowing bright green.

"Was he bit?" Daryl asked quietly.

"No. Cut by car," Harry spoke, slurring a little.

* * *

><p>Harry could feel the moment that a walker attempted to go past the shield that was protecting the RV. He strengthened the spell while holding onto the magic of the hallows and could visibly feel himself start to sway. At least the pack of walkers was thinning out as Harry watched.<p>

As less and less walkers went by, Harry started to consider letting the hallows magic down. He distinctly could see that a few members of the group had vacated the freeway, their white lights disappearing down the side of the hill. And the grey light that was right at the door to the RV had gone, almost as if the walker had died or gotten killed.

* * *

><p>"Harry, you can stop whatever thing you're doing."<p>

He sighed, allowed the hallows magic to fall away and he canceled the spell that was protecting Andrea. There were black spots floating in his vision and he shook his head, in an attempt to make them go away.

"Oh..." Harry trailed off, just now realizing he was swaying even more.

The last thing he remembered was slumping up forward against Daryl's legs.


	6. Chapter 6

CDC

"Hey, Daryl?"

Daryl turned to look at Rick after taking one last glance at the unconscious man that they had found deeper in the building. Rick had done what he could for the guy's wounds and the group had all seen the various injuries that the guy had. A few of them were recent but the rest were all old and scarred over. It made Daryl remember his own scars and he had had to back up a few inches from the cot they had placed the guy on.

"Yeah?"

Rick raised an eyebrow, searching Daryl for a minute before saying what he wanted. "Would you mind keeping an eye on him?"

"Why me?"

"You're least likely to start a fight with him," Rick replied steadily. "I recognized the look in the guy's eyes when we found him. We do not want to back him into a corner."

Daryl nodded. "I'll do it."

"Thanks."

* * *

><p><span>Now<span>

Harry woke up to Dale's anxious look and to the sun further down in the sky than it had been. It was probably mid afternoon by the looks of it. "What's wrong?"

Dale raised an eyebrow but didn't comment on the obvious elephant on the road. His strange powers. "Sophia's missing. Two walkers ran her off the road and now everyone's looking for her."

"Sophia?" Harry repeated, stretching for a minute before getting up. "So that was... I'll go look for her. I might be of some help."

"Daryl's a good tracker," Dale remarked. "He'll probably be able to find her."

"Why didn't you guys wake me up before though?" Harry asked, looking around the road.

"You looked exhausted," Dale explained. "At least according to Daryl and T-Dog."

Harry glanced over to where T-Dog was sitting by the RV then back to Dale. He walked over to the front of the RV and studied it for a minute before pulling out his holly wand. He didn't pull out the elder wand because he wanted the RV to still be standing when he finished with this. And his magic had taken a big energy hit from using death magic to shield Daryl, T-Dog and himself.

"Harry?"

"What are you..."

Harry murmured the exact charm he wanted and felt a little pull on his magic. The front of the RV glowed really lightly then settled.

"The RV should be repaired now," Harry explained. "Let me know if anything else is wrong. Or if it's not. I never really know with electronics and cars. At least it hasn't exploded yet."

T-Dog and Dale's eyes widened.

"I'm kidding," Harry said, mouth turning up into a hesitant grin. "It's not going to explode."

Harry ran over to the edge of the hill, stared down at it then glanced back at Dale and T-Dog. They were both staring at him, a mixture of bewildered and fear in their eyes.

"I'll explain later when Sophia's been found, okay?" Harry asked. "That sound acceptable?"

"Rick and Shane both wanted explanations," Dale said. "We all want answers."

"I know. Let me go find Carol's girl," Harry replied then jumped over the railing, fluidly shifting into his animagus form in the air.

He took off at a full run, paws gaining traction on the decline better than he would have been on two legs. He kept his ears wide to hear walkers or people or kids. And since he couldn't use magic in this form, well nothing except the incantation to change back, he would need to avoid any walkers. Harry also didn't want to lead any back to the road or into his group of people.

Though, come to think of it, it would be hilarious to lead walkers into a trap. Or even better, lead them on a wild goose chase. Harry huffed out a breath and stuck his nose to the ground, looking for any sign of...

There. Fear from Sophia. Sweat, a little tinge of fear, worry, and plenty of determination from Rick.

Harry turned in that direction and galloped off, smelling the little creek before he went headlong into it. The water splashed around him and he jumped out of it immediately, some cat instinct making him hate it. But he did notice the little thicket of bushes where Sophia's trail went in. Harry also smelled Daryl's scent around the thicket, above the water, so he scrambled up the bank, shook the water off of his coat, and ran.

* * *

><p>He had been running for a while, following Sophia's scent for about twenty minutes before he heard the distinct sound of light footsteps. And growling. Multiple growls, too. Harry raced ahead, changing shape from one step to another.<p>

"Sophia!"

Harry ran, speed increasing as he spotted the little girl. She was trying to climb a tree ahead of no less than three walkers. She screamed when one of the walkers got a hold of her ankle.

"Harry! Help!"

"Don't stop climbing, Sophia! I'm coming!"

Harry raced ahead, already pulling out his wand with his other hand and casting a cutting charm at the walker who had Sophia's ankle. The walker stopped, swayed a little then dropped and Harry cast more cutting charms at the second and third walker. As if in sync, both leftover walkers dropped like stones, now dead dead.

Harry stood there breathing heavily before walking up toward the tree and stopping at the trunk. He glanced up at the tree, eyes moving over the limbs until he saw Sophia.

"Are they dead?" Sophia asked, watching from the tree limb she was on. "I'm not moving unless they're dead."

"They're dead," Harry called up quietly, keeping an eye out for more. "You want to-"

A gun shot rang out in the silence, far off in the distance. Harry stiffened and turned to give the tree his back. "Sophia, stay up there for another minute, okay? Are you hurt?"

"Okay, Harry. Uh, I don't think it got me," Sophia replied quietly, crawling down the tree slowly. She stayed on the tree limb that was closest to the ground, obeyed what Harry had told her to do. "But..."

Harry turned to look at Sophia, raised an eyebrow. "The walker who had your ankle... Did it scratch you?"

"No."

"Good," Harry responded, sighing in relief. He turned to scan the surroundings for more walkers and saw none.

"Harry, that was only one shot," Sophia said as Harry turned to look at her again.

"Yeah, I was wondering the same thing," Harry commented. "Okay, come on down. I'll catch you if you want to jump."

Sophia looked at him, nodded, stood up on her tree limb then jumped, landing safely in Harry's arms. He scanned her with his magic, just to be sure, and placed a kiss on her head when she started to tremble.

"You're okay, Sophia," Harry murmured. "I've got you. Let's go see where the others have gotten to. In fact..."

Harry lowered her to the ground and kneeled, staring into her eyes. "Sophia, we're a long way from the group and I'm a little worried about what that gun shot meant. How about I show you one of my secrets?"

Sophia raised an eyebrow. "What kind of secret?"

"The kind where I can turn into an animal," Harry replied, keeping an eye on their surroundings. "We would be faster if I shifted and carried you."

"But... people can't do that," Sophia said, crossing her arms.

Harry smiled. "Some people can and I would be one of them. Now, if we run into Daryl on the way back, tell him not to shoot me. And you know, the others too."

Sophia giggled and waited, watching him with rapt eyes.

Harry backed up a little and whispered the incantation, shifting back into his panther form. He stretched a little, kneading the ground then turned to look at Sophia, whose eyes had widened. She stepped backward, hitting the tree.

Harry started to purr, dropping his shoulders and legs to the ground as if bowing. He presented his side and waited. Sophia stared at him and took a cautious step toward him. Harry waited, shock still until Sophia was at his side and then turned to look at him.

"Kitty?"

Harry chuffed out a cat equivalent of a laugh and nudged her closer to him with his nose. Sophia seemed to steady herself and grabbed onto some of his fur, pulling herself onto him. Harry turned to search her, making sure she was on securely then took off, following his nose and backtracking. He also made sure to swerve to avoid walkers, taking a detour that would still get them where he had heard the gunshot.

"Harry!" Sophia called out excitedly.

He took them through the woods, dodging one or two walkers. It was fifteen minutes before he started to smell blood. He yowled quietly and slowed down, feeling Sophia tighten her grip on his fur.

"What do you smell?"

Harry crept closer, sliding in between two trees, and saw a dead deer. A buck by the looks of it. Harry winced and stalked closer, though not getting too close to spare Sophia.

"Harry, I don't want to get closer," Sophia whispered, leaning against him.

He nodded, picking up another blood trail and stiffened. He picked up a faster pace, letting Sophia steady herself again then took off running, following Rick, Carl and Shane's trail. There was also another smell but it was unfamiliar, man by the smell of it.

* * *

><p>One of them must have been injured, Harry thought, as they followed the drops of blood. They weaved between trees, encountered a dead walker, swerved around to avoid it and passed the forest park.<p>

"Harry, I see... That's Mr. Shane!" Sophia called out over the wind as he ran.

He narrowed his eyes, not even slowing his pace, and spotted the two men. One familiar and one unfamiliar. Harry slowed down, as to not overtake the two. He really didn't want to spook either of them as they were both carrying rifles and they looked tense, running like they were being chased. They also weren't injured by the smell of it.


	7. Chapter 7

Harry kept a mile behind the two men as they ran over the grassy fields. There were cows spread out sporadically through the fields and some had noticed the two of them.

"Harry, the cows here," Sophia whispered. "I think they're getting nervous."

He stopped and turned to see what Sophia was talking about. She was right. The cows were starting to low quietly, slowly walking closer together. He sighed and turned to look at Sophia, nudged her with his nose.

"You want me off?" Sophia asked, tilting her head.

He nodded and Sophia slid off, loosening her grip on his fur. He took a step backwards, kept an eye on where Shane and the strange man were heading then shifted back. He stretched a little then turned to gaze at the white farmhouse.

"Sophia, do you want me to carry you or can you run with me?" Harry asked, peering down at her.

"Can you carry me, please?" Sophia questioned, yawning.

"Of course."

Harry scooped her up and started off in the direction of the farmhouse, eyeing the blood trail that was right alongside his path.

* * *

><p>As the two of them went through the open gate on the field and approached the house, he could see Rick and Shane on the porch. As the two men moved, Harry got a look at Rick's shirt and police uniform, which were both covered in blood.<p>

"You hurt?" Harry called out, startling the two men. Shane raised his shotgun as he turned around only to lower it when he saw Harry.

Both Rick and Shane's eyes widened when they saw whom Harry was carrying.

"Sophia?" Shane asked roughly.

"Yeah?" Sophia returned, glancing at the two men from her spot in Harry's arms.

"You found her?" Rick asked quietly as Harry walked up the steps of the house. Rick was pale, bleary eyed and rocking back on his feet. Obviously something had happened as the other man didn't look injured but what... Harry hoped that it wasn't... That no one had gotten bitten. He hadn't been able to save anyone that had gotten bitten or scratched.

"Yeah. What happened?" Harry asked, slowly lowering Sophia to the floor. She immediately grasped his hand though and he returned the grasp. "We heard the gunshot."

"Carl's been shot," Rick murmured.

Harry winced. "Is there a doctor here? Is that..."

"Name's Hershel," Rick said, loosely gesturing inside.

"Alright," Harry replied, nodding. "He need any help?"

Shane turned to look at him. "You a doctor?"

"Not quite but if he needs help in there, yes," Harry replied then peered down at Sophia at her tug.

"Carl's hurt?" Sophia asked, glancing up at them.

"Yeah, looks like it," Harry remarked, glancing between Rick and Shane.

"Could I see him?" Sophia asked.

"Uh, perhaps later," Harry replied. "How about I take you back to your mother for now?"

"But I want to stay here," Sophia said, frowning. "What if... Carl..."

"Carl will be fine," Harry stated steadily, feeling both Rick and Shane's eyes on him. "If you want to stay, stay close to me, okay? Let's go inside."

Shane guided Rick inside, held the door open for Harry and Sophia.

Harry trailed behind the two former police officers as they went into the house. The house was homey and felt like it had seen a lot of love and warmth.

"Is he okay?" Shane asked as they walked into the bedroom where Carl was.

There was an older man working alongside an older woman with two younger women on the other side of the bed. Harry assumed that the older man that was sitting by Carl was the doctor that Rick had mentioned. Hershel, if he had heard correctly. Another older man was standing in the doorway and Harry realized that he was the man that had been running with Shane.

Carl was on the bed, very pale and limp. Harry could see sweat dripping down the boy's forehead and then there was the gunshot wound on his stomach. Hershel had a towel placed where the wound was, had apparently cleaned up the blood from it. There was an IV already hooked up to Carl's right arm, held up by one of the younger women.

Hershel was holding a cloth to Carl's stomach and had paused for a minute to look up at them.

"You know his blood type?" Hershel asked, glancing up at Rick for a moment.

"A positive, same as mine," Rick asserted, going over to stand at the foot of the bed. Shane went to stand next to Rick and Harry moved to stand across from the bed, Sophia following.

"Good, don't stray too far from the bed," Hershel said. "We'll be needing you."

"Anything I can do to help?" Harry asked tentatively, peering down at Sophia when he heard her yawn.

"Get Sophia out of the room," Shane suggested.

"I'll take her to get something to eat," the blond young woman offered. "I'm Beth."

Harry raised an eyebrow, studying the woman for a minute before nodding. "You sure?"

Beth nodded, smiling a little. "She probably shouldn't be in here for this. She looks exhausted too."

"Okay," Harry agreed, kneeling down to look at Sophia. "Thanks."

"Harry?"

"Sophia, you want to go with Beth here? She'll get you something to eat and drink," Harry explained, drawing the girl out of the room. "You'll be safe here and you don't want to be here for whatever comes."

"But Carl... I'm worried," Sophia murmured.

"He'll be fine. I'll make sure of it, okay?" Harry said then stiffened when they heard a scream.

Sophia's eyes widened and she winced.

"Sophia, go with Beth," Harry murmured. "She'll get you something to eat."

"Okay," Sophia said quietly, turning to look at Beth who reached out a hand. Sophia reached out to grasp Beth's hand and Harry watched the two of them walk into what could be a kitchen.

Harry strode back into the room where Carl was, winced when Carl continued to scream. Hershel was going through the wound with a scalpel, trying to find the shrapnel pieces. With no anesthetic or sedatives, Carl was twitching around, trying to escape the source of the pain.

"Stop!" Shane called out as he was sitting on the bed and holding Carl down.

Harry flinched a little, glanced to where the older woman was getting Rick ready to give Carl blood.

"You're killing him!" Rick insisted, half turning away from the woman who was sticking a needle in his arm.

Rick, do you want him to live? He needs blood!" Hershel said, raising his voice to be heard over the chaos.

Harry padded over to the bedside and laid his hand on Carl's forehead, murmured the incantation for spelled sleep and willed it into working without a wand. As he was beginning to find out, his magic obeyed his will very easily, knocking Carl out in a matter of seconds.

"What'd you do?" Shane yelled, glaring at him.

"I just put him to sleep," Harry said, returning the glare and raising his voice a little. "He's just asleep! Passed out! Whatever you want to call it. He's not dead though."

Hershel nodded, not even looking up at them. Harry could see a few shrapnel pieces beyond the scalpel that the older man was using and he winced; the bullet apparently had not gone straight through Carl. "He is just asleep. Whatever you did, thank you."

Harry frowned then went to lean against the wall. He could feel Rick and Shane staring at him.

"What the hell are you?" Shane asked as the older woman pulled a chair up to the bed besides Hershel for Rick to sit in.

"Look, you guys want answers and I'm entirely willing to give them," Harry started. "But not now. I'll wait until Carl's stable and okay if that's alright with you two?"

"I can wait," Rick said, glancing at Shane with a questioning look. "But Lori... She doesn't know."

"You need to stay," Hershel said, drawing away from Carl and gesturing at Rick. He glanced between Harry and Rick before focusing on Shane. "No more yelling in here. It's not good for the boy. If you want to yell at him, take it outside."

"I'll handle everything else," Shane said as blood started to slide from Rick's arm to Carl's.

* * *

><p>"I don't exactly know how to perform a surgery for a bullet wound," Harry commented, starting to pace near the wall. Every other minute, he watched Hershel dig through Carl's stomach for the bullet fragments. "Otherwise, I would be helping him now."<p>

"You're a doctor and you don't know how to perform surgery?" Shane yelled, glaring at him.

"I said I wasn't a doctor but I am close enough," Harry retorted then stopped in front of Shane and pointed at the door. "If you're going to continue to yell at me, then get out. It's not good for patients for their sick rooms to be loud. I know emotions are running high right now but that's no excuse for this. You should know that."

Shane glared at him, looked to Rick, who was staring at Carl. Harry continued to point at the door, hand going for his wand before Shane sighed and walked out of the room.

Hershel drew away after a few minutes, wiped his hands on a towel. The older woman set about stopping the blood transfusion, taping up the two wounds on Carl and Rick.

"Is that enough blood for him?" Rick asked, voice a little hoarse.

"No, but it's enough for now," Hershel answered, glancing up at Harry. "We don't have much in the way of painkillers here. Do you have any with you?"

Harry strode over to stand next to Rick, who was getting up. "Not with me. I would need to go back to the highway for my trunk. I'm Harry, by the way."

"Slow," Harry murmured. "You just gave blood. Take it slowly, okay?"

"Where'd Shane go?" Rick asked as he stood up, swayed a little.

"I sent him out," Harry muttered. "Yelling at me and all that."

* * *

><p>Harry listened as Shane and Otis talked about going over to the nearest high school to get medical supplies. The other younger woman had already gone off to fetch Lori and Harry walked over to a window, watched her lead a horse out of a barn.<p>

"We should let Carol know that you found Sophia," Rick said as they watched Shane and Otis drive off in a blue pickup truck.

"Yeah..." Harry trailed off, glancing back toward the road as they walked back inside. Harry laid a hand on Rick's back briefly, stopping him from doubling over. "I might have an idea about that."

He really didn't want to apparate back to the highway but likely the rest of the group was still in the forest, not yet back at the cars. And if that was the case, he really didn't want to apparate to a random spot in the forest either. Hell, he had stopped apparating a few months back as he wasn't always sure that there were no walkers at his landing point. But...

Rick stopped to look at him, raised an eyebrow.

"I... I know of a way to send messages," Harry explained, fidgeting a little. "It's not a regular way though."

"I don't think Carol has a radio," Rick said.

"I don't have one either. This... I suppose it's only seeing is believing and all that," Harry said, drawing his wand slowly and whispering the incantation for his patronus. The ever familiar translucent blue deer leapt from his wand, cantered around and stopped in front of Rick, whose eyes were wide.

"What... what is it?"

"It's called a patronus," Harry continued as Prongs stared at the other man then trotted back to Harry and stood at attention. "No threat right now, Prongs. Just a message."

The buck nodded, waited. Harry recited the message and then watched as Prongs galloped off, blue mist trailing it.

"That's... that's going to let Carol know?" Rick asked, still staring at where the ghost deer had run off. "What is it really?"

"Magic," Harry said. "Pure magic. It's what I am. A wizard."

Rick's jaw dropped and he looked like he was about to say something when they both heard Hershel yelling.

"Harry! You said you were a doctor?" Patricia came out, gesturing for them to follow her into the house.

"Yeah?" Harry said as the three of them ran into the room where Carl was. "What's..."

"He's not breathing!" Hershel yelled.

Harry stiffened, seeing Rick pale even more and then hurried over to the bedside. Carl was indeed not breathing, lying so still on the bed, so Harry glanced quickly at Rick and Hershel then pulled his wand out and cast an old spell. It was a spell that he had come across studying to be a healer after the war, one that had _if you're desperate_ written above it. He had never used it before but well, he was desperate. They were desperate.

Carl's eyes flicked open and started to glow and distantly Harry realized his eyes had started to glow too. Harry breathed deeply on purpose, and watched Carl take a breath too. With each breath Harry took, Carl took a breath.

"...Harry?" Rick asked hesitantly, looking between the man and his kid. The man whose eyes were glowing, much like he had seen back on the highway. Daryl had been right.

"I'm breathing for him," Harry answered quietly. "This will keep him alive until Shane and Otis get back from the high school. But I can't help with anything else now as it requires all of my concentration to keep this spell going."

* * *

><p>AN: Happy Holidays!<p>

Do you guys want Teddy in this fic?


	8. Chapter 8

"...What the hell is he doing?"

Harry glanced to the other side of the bed, realizing that he hadn't heard Lori and Rick come back into the room. Maggie, the other daughter of Hershel, had apparently come back with Lori a few minutes ago.

"Lori, he's helping Carl breathe," Rick whispered, nodding at Harry.

"... Helping him breathe? How?" Lori questioned. "And why isn't he answering?"

"He needs to focus," Rick replied, shrugging a little. "I don't know how or what it is that he's doing but he's making it so that Carl keeps on breathing."

"I can talk some," Harry finally said slowly, peering up at Rick and Lori. Hershel and the older woman came in, with Patricia setting up a blood transfusion line again. "Just don't ask complicated questions."

"Why are your eyes glowing?" Lori asked, keeping her voice low.

"Complicated questions," Harry reminded them, taking a purposeful deep breath and blinking a few times. He had realized that he only glowed when he was using the death magic but apparently the spell he had used was an ancient enough spell or at least powerful enough spell for his magic to literally show itself. "Ask me later."

"Will he be okay?" Lori questioned, stroking Carl's hair. Rick moved into the other chair, let Patricia put in the needle and tubing to transfer blood.

"Assuming Shane and Otis get back quickly," Hershel said, glancing at Harry briefly before checking Carl's pulse. "Yes. I'll do my best."

"I don't know Shane very well but he seems like he'll get the job done," Harry remarked slowly. He would have looked through the sight that the death magic brought him but he couldn't do any other spell right now, otherwise Carl would quit breathing. "Do you know if Carol got my message?"

Harry could feel Lori's... questioning gaze and Rick's more or less grateful look on him. "They're driving over here now that the RV is repaired."

Harry nodded slightly.

"You found Sophia?" Lori asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Harry started, peering down at Carl briefly. The kid was still under his sleeping spell, breathing calmly enough. He trusted Hershel to do whatever else needed to be done in regards to getting the fragments out of Carl. "She was about to be eaten by walkers but yeah. She went with... Beth?"

"Beth? Who's that?" Rick asked quietly.

"My youngest daughter," Hershel said. "She's good with kids."

* * *

><p>"...Sophia?!"<p>

Harry smiled at hearing Carol's tentative and yet desperate voice in the house. The sun had gone down without any sign of Shane and Otis and that was more than a little worrying. Carl was... hanging on but Harry wasn't sure if the kid would be able to hang on for a lot longer.

He had heard the distinctive roar of Daryl's motorcycle pull up and the other vehicles that they had, he had heard as well. It was good, Harry figured, to have their group together again, even with Shane gone.

Rick and Lori were sitting in chairs by the bed, talking quietly to each other. They were obviously exhausted, probably Rick more than Lori at this point. Rick had given at least two, maybe three pints of blood this afternoon and he was definitely paler.

"Mama!"

"Sophia!"

"Would someone..." Harry started, glancing up at Glenn and surprisingly Daryl as they shuffled inside the room.

"Everyone's here," Glenn said, glancing at Harry and doing a double take as he saw the glow that was emanating from the other man. "What..."

Harry snorted, fought back a yawn. "Explanations later."

"He doing okay?" Daryl asked, staring at Harry briefly before glancing to Rick and Lori.

"He's hanging in there," Lori replied, strained, hesitant smile on her face. "Shane and Otis need to get their butts back here."

"You okay?" Daryl questioned, looking at Harry, who started a little.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Tired," Harry answered, eyes widening as Carl started to twitch even through the sleeping spell. Hershel peered down at Carl, even as the boy started to moan.

"What's happening?" Rick asked, standing up quickly and almost falling over if Lori hadn't caught him. "He's not suppose..."

Harry blinked, his breathing spell was still working so that wasn't it. It was...

"He's not getting enough blood," Hershel explained, looking a little bewildered if his wide eyes were anything to go by. "If Harry wasn't... doing what he's doing, he would be having a fit right now."

"Here, I can give more," Rick said, sitting down again.

"No, you can't," Harry spoke then glanced up at Daryl and Glenn. "Would one of you go get my trunk out of the RV? Assuming someone drove it here."

"Wouldn't it be heavy?" Glenn asked.

"No, it won't be. It's special like that," Harry said, with a small smile. "But it has a few things that should be able to help Carl, at least until Shane and Otis get back."

Daryl nodded slightly and shuffled back out of the room without a word. Glenn turned around and followed him.

Harry was about to focus back on Carl, who was once again quiet and still when he felt something. A feeling that was familiar to when he had felt all of the scientists deaths back in the CDC. Except this felt like it was coming from far away. He raised an eyebrow, feeling... He had a bad suspicion that either Shane or Otis were not making it back.

* * *

><p>A few minutes later, Daryl and Glenn returned to the bedroom, carrying his trunk right up to him. Harry glanced between them and then turned to his trunk and whispered a word. The trunk popped open to the right compartment, the one where he kept the rest of the potions that he was carrying around. He could feel everyone's gaze on him, though after a second or two, Rick and Lori turned back to Carl. Luckily, his spell on it hadn't flickered out as it kept the potions at the right temperature.<p>

He grasped his wand, risked muttering an easy summoning charm and the blood replenisher potion popped right out and landed right in his waiting palm. He heard gasps before speaking the word to close the trunk, startling Glenn as he was leaning in to look.

"What's that?" Lori asked, staring right at the vial in Harry's palm.

"It will replenish Carl's blood supply," Harry replied, glancing at Hershel before looking between Rick and Lori. "It's..."

He sighed and ran a tired hand through his hair. "It's kind of like medication in a sense. But my kind of medication."

"Is it safe?" Hershel asked, glancing at the vial before looking into Harry's eyes.

"Yes. It's totally safe," Harry replied, shrugging. "It saved my life a few times over the years. Even before this shit happened. I spent a good portion of my childhood and up until I was 18 in the infirmary so I ought to know."

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Daryl raise an eyebrow.

"Infirmary?" Glenn asked, glancing at him.

"It's what my... people call hospitals," Harry explained, uncorking the vial. "This won't sustain Carl though, what with the rate he's losing blood at. It's just temporary."

"What about blood type?" Rick asked.

"Your people?" Daryl asked.

Harry peered down at Carl before pointing at Daryl, who flinched a little. Harry raised an eyebrow but lowered his hand. "Complicated question with a long and complicated answer."

"It determines the blood type of the drinker and assimilates to it," Harry replied, looking at Rick. "Hershel?"

"Carl needs blood," Hershel said. "If you say it's safe..."

"But he can't drink anything at the moment," Lori murmured

Harry nodded, twirling his wand in a tightly controlled movement, muttered the incantation and watched the liquid in the vial flow out. It floated out and headed straight into Carl's stomach, bypassing the skin and was absorbed into the kid's body.

"You are explaining all of this later," Rick remarked, watching Carl for a few minutes before turning to look at Harry.

"Of course."

* * *

><p>"You need to make a choice," Hershel murmured, looking between Rick and Lori. "Do it now or..."<p>

Harry winced, still sitting on the bed with Carl, still breathing for him. He could feel Carl slipping away, could see the light that was Carl flickering almost out of the corner of his eyes. He wished... This breathing spell that he was working didn't allow him to do anything major or else he would be doing all he could to keep Carl alive.

"Would you be able to do... whatever it is you're doing while Hershel's operating?" Rick asked, turning to Harry.

"Maybe," Harry answered, peering up at them. "I've never done this before so... Chances are, yes. But..."

"But you're not sure," Rick finished, turning to Lori who was standing over Carl and almost shaking.

"Yeah."

"You have to tell me what it is," Rick murmured to Lori as she went to lean against him.

Harry turned to look at Hershel, who was staring at him with a certain amount of curiosity. He would have a lot of explaining to do tomorrow, assuming it wasn't already midnight. It certainly felt like it was late at night, maybe around 11pm. Harry was certainly tired enough for it to be late at night.

"We do it," Lori finally spoke, interrupting Harry's thoughts.

"Alright," Hershel said, gesturing to Patricia as she started to get things ready for the surgery. Harry watched her wheel a metal rolling table over to the bedside, clearly to have a more sturdy place to operate.

"Do you have to stay with him for your... thing to work?" Hershel asked, pulling a corner of the bedsheets up. "Get the IV on the sheet. He'll need it."

Harry took a step or two closer to Carl and grabbed another corner of the sheets. Rick grabbed the IV and placed it on the sheet close to Carl's head.

"Yes, or at least in the same room," Harry replied, following Hershel's instructions as the four of them lifted Carl up onto the table. He saw Patricia move a lamp stand over to light up Carl.

"You don't know for certain?" Lori asked as she and Rick backed off, giving Carl space.

"Rick, Lori, you may not want to be here for this," Hershel said, glancing at the two of them.

"I don't—-" Harry stopped, as they all heard the car pull up to the driveway.

Rick turned to look out the window and sighed in relief. "They're here."

* * *

><p>Harry stayed by Carl during the procedure, keeping up the spell until Hershel affixed the respirator. Then he gently, slowly disengaged, canceling the spell. The power settled, stopping its flow from Harry to Carl. Harry yawned but stayed right in the room, fidgeting for a while then went to go sit in a chair but immediately got up, noticing that he was dozing off. He wanted to be ready to help if anything went wrong.<p>

He watched as Hershel reopened the wound and picked out the various remaining fragments from the shotgun. Patricia was there to help Hershel in anyway, holding out a little container for the fragments. Harry went up to stand next to Hershel, out of his way, and held Carl's hand. The kid was still under his sleeping spell but given that Shane had brought back painkillers and sedatives, he figured it was okay to lift it. He had seen the look in Hershel's eyes after he had brought back the packs that Shane had brought. It seemed like Otis had been the one that Harry had felt and Harry would have panicked at that. He hadn't been able to feel someone dying from a few miles away before.

Though he wasn't going to end the spell until Hershel was done. He didn't want Carl to suddenly wake up through this and panic.

* * *

><p>"I'm done," Hershel spoke, almost startling Harry.<p>

He looked up at Hershel and Patricia then peered down at Carl, who looked almost relaxed. The wound was stitched up and cleaned and bandaged properly, white clean cloth going around Carl's stomach. Harry cautiously ended the sleeping spell and sighed when Carl remained asleep, probably due to the drugs in his system.

"I'll go tell everyone," Harry murmured, covering his mouth when he yawned. "He looks stable enough now."

"Yes, he does," Hershel replied, glancing at Harry then looking over at Patricia with a frown. "I'll come with you."

Harry nodded distractedly, cast a temporary monitoring charm on Carl then awkwardly strode over to the door. His legs were tired, hell, his body was tired. He was hungry too, his stomach growling quietly enough to let him know. He reached into his trunk and pulled out a snack bar, having picked it up in his travels. He sighed in contentment when he swallowed, the chocolate oat bar tending to some of his hunger. He closed his trunk and shrunk it in full view of Hershel and Patricia and scooped it up, putting it in a pocket.

He passed Carol sitting in one of the bigger chairs in the living room, with her daughter asleep on her lap. Carol was almost asleep herself if her closed eyes and slow, relaxed breathing was anything to go by. Harry smiled at them and shuffled by them, heading for the front door. He opened it and stepped out, stopping on the porch and glanced at where Rick and Lori were sitting on the steps.

The two of them turned at his approach and stood up, hopeful expressions on both of their faces.

"He's good," Harry commented, taking another bite of his snack. He could see the rest of their group standing around the front yard. The RV and the other cars were parked around the small group of trees. A group of small tents were set up, with Glenn and T-Dog setting up the rest of the camp.

Lori gasped, tears starting to build in her eyes. Rick stared for a few seconds then smiled.

"Thank you," Lori said, looking up at Hershel as he walked out too.

"He only needs rest now," Hershel added.

Harry sidestepped the three of them and shuffled down the stairs. "I'm gonna go... pass out now, if you guys don't mind."

Rick raised an eyebrow.

"Passing out in the good way," Harry corrected sheepishly, seeing Daryl putting up his own tent a few feet away from all the other tents. "Explanations when I'm a little more awake."

Harry strode across the front yard and passed most of the tents, stopping a few feet from Daryl's. He pulled out his trunk and resized it, opened it, and reached in to grab his own tent. Muggle tent, not wizarding tent. He had wanted to blend in when he was now moving amongst non-wizarding communities. Though he supposed that it didn't make much difference now, now that more and more people were dead and walking around.

He pulled out his wand and twirled it in a tight motion, watching the tent make itself up on its own. It was a few minutes before it was set up, front door zipped open. He nodded to himself and strode off a few minutes from the farm and did his business then walked back to his tent, feeling Daryl's eyes on him.

He peered over at the man, kneeling at his tent's door. "Carl's okay, if you're wondering."

Daryl nodded to him. "Good."

Harry stared at the other man for a second more then turned and shuffled into his tent, eying the sleeping bag that was already set up. He cast a small cleaning charm on himself then flopped down onto the sleeping bag, flicking his wand to close the tent. He was asleep the instant his head hit the pillow.

* * *

><p>"He said it was magic," Rick explained quietly the next morning, glancing over Carl to Lori. Sophia had wriggled her way into the room, having overheard that Carl was fine, and she was curled up next to him. Both of them were asleep.<p>

Lori raised an eyebrow. "And you believe him?"

"I saw something strange," Rick replied, shrugging a little. "Don't know what was if not..."

"Do we still trust him?" Lori asked, peering down at Carl and Sophia.

"I do," Carol spoke, coming to stand at the foot of the bed. "He found Sophia."

"And he healed your boy," Hershel said.

"We still don't know why the CDC held him," Shane said, raising his voice just a little. "He could be lying in wait for something..."

"For what?" Dale asked, more than a little bewildered at the prospect. "He protected Daryl and T-Dog back on the highway. If he's not trustworthy... then I don't know what is."

"Yeah, he did," T-Dog agreed. "I probably... Hell, neither one of us would still be here if he hadn't done whatever it was that he did."

"He also..." Andrea trailed off as everyone moved out of the room.

"Also what?" Rick asked as Lori moved into the kitchen. Hershel's two daughters were up and also moving about in the kitchen, cooking something.

"I was in the RV when that herd came," Andrea said. "The door was open and I think a walker attempted to come in."

"Attempted?" Shane repeated.

"There was a blue transparent... shield over the door to the RV," Andrea explained, pulling her hair into a ponytail. "The walker couldn't go in. He was protecting me too in addition to whatever he did with Daryl."

"There's also his eyes," Lori called over, turning to look at the group. "They glow whenever he's doing... whatever it is he's doing."

"Where is Daryl anyway?" Rick asked, looking over to Dale.

"He's on watch," Dale answered, glancing out the window that they were closest to. "He offered to do it."

Rick nodded. "We should hold a short tribute for Otis later this morning. We can ask Harry to explain later."

* * *

><p>Harry glanced around the farm house's yard then shuffled out of his tent, sticking his holly wand in his pocket of his jeans. He had only come back to his tent for his wand, which these days, he never went without. As soon as he was done with his morning business, he looked over to the house. He quickly assumed that everyone had woken up since the sun was up, guessing that it was around 9am. He glanced over to where Daryl had pitched his tent and didn't see any evidence that the man was still asleep.<p>

He strode over to the cars and was about to shuffle over to the house when he sighed, stopped, and rocked back on his heels. He was more than a little nervous about telling everyone about his past right now. Maybe... He glanced up to the RV. Lying up there was good but he wished he had his broom. He always lost a little of his stress when he was flying.

Harry shuffled over to the RV and climbed up the ladder only to fall short on the last rung. Daryl was sitting atop the RV in the lawn chair, with his crossbow at his side and a rifle in his lap. The archer turned to look at him, giving Harry a once over, searching for something.

"Good morning," Harry said quietly, staying where he was for the moment.

Daryl nodded slightly, raising an eyebrow. "What're you doing up here?"

"Uh, putting off explanations?"

Daryl snorted.

"Mind if I join you?"

"As long as you don't talk a lot."

Harry grinned. "I won't. No worries on that front."

"Alright."

Harry walked over to sit beside Daryl, crossing his legs and closing his eyes for a while. He had dreamed last night and he remembered very little of it, only that it was strange. Or stranger than he had seen in a while. And it didn't have walkers in it. He shrugged and found his magic center in his body, searching for the little greyish ball of light that was the magic that had come with the Hallows.

His regular magic was often a light bluish color, floating in his mind. But the death magic changed colors, from black to white to grey. And he didn't really know why it did that. He slowly opened his eyes, flicking on his magical sight, using some death magic. Harry turned around and studied the farm house. He saw the little two white lights that indicated Carl and Sophia then the slightly bigger one that was probably the teenaged boy that was living with the Greenes. He could also see people spilling out of the house, lots of white lights glowing within them. Harry counted seventeen individual white lights in the house and turned to Daryl and saw his light.

He blinked and withdrew the magic and reopened his eyes, hearing movement at his side. Daryl was staring out at the horizon and Harry could have sworn...

"Suppose I better go meet my doom," Harry remarked, standing up and stretching.

Daryl turned back around, stared at him, his lips twitching almost up into a smile.


End file.
